Artists: Novo
Concertante Manila / Zielinski Singers
Venue: Filharmonia
Location: Szczecin,
Poland
Date: 16 June 2018
Event: XI
Międzynarodowy Festiwal Chóralny (XI International Choir Festival)
I ended up at this
concert on something of a whim. My partner and I were in Szczecin for
the weekend, and a friend of a friend suggested the concert when we
got into town. It seemed like a chance worth taking, but when we
arrived at the venue, the box office was already closed. Our
companion asked an usher if there were still tickets. He disappeared
and came back a minute later with free tickets for us. The advertised
price was cheap, but nothing beats free!
The Filharmonia moved
into a new building in 2014, a modernist building with subtle
exterior lighting, a bright white foyer, and a gold-plated concert
hall. The venue was host to the annual Choir Festival, which on this
night featured the Novo Concertante Manila from the Philippines,
conducted by Arwin Tan, and the Zielinski Singers from the USA,
conducted by Richard Zielinski.
The twenty vocalists of
the Novo Concertante Manila sang in mostly traditional styles,
but they covered a variety of material in multiple languages. Their
execution was well-honed and captivating. The diversity of the voices
and the perfection of their harmony was incredible. Just when their
set started to get slow, they performed a song that involved a loud
click of the tongue by the men in the choir, which immediately
restored my focus. They managed to earn an encore from the audience,
for which they offered a traditional Polish piece that received a
very warm welcome from the crowd.
The conductor of the
Zielinski Singers, Richard Zielinski, is the director of
choral studies at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, but he
apparently worked in Szczecin in the past. The choir started with a
couple haunting, modern, experimental pieces. I was immediately taken
in. After this initial strong start, they gradually transitioned to
traditional American folk tunes, hymns, and ultimately, gospel. The
vocal performances were strong, but the material was less adventurous
and the lyrics were uninteresting. To close the night, they invited
the Novo Concertante Manila back to the stage. Together, they all
sang a traditional Polish song for which the entire crowd
reverentially stood up and sang along. The final number was a rousing
gospel song with a country-inflected solo part.
I had never witnessed
unaccompanied choirs of such skill before. I was thoroughly
impressed, even if the songs themselves didn't always speak to me. I
appreciated that the two choirs were rather different and that a
diverse array of works were presented. Ending the show with two
collaborative songs seems like an obvious choice in retrospect, but
in the moment, it was a delightful and successful surprise.
P.S. Thanks to Ola and Alyssa!
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